


Brian

by BachandBefore



Category: Original Work
Genre: Camping, Family, Gen, Missing Persons, Siblings, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-01 03:43:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10179938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BachandBefore/pseuds/BachandBefore
Summary: My adaptation of an old campfire story.





	

I have my little sister now, but before her I had a little brother, Brian. This happened to me when I was...like, eleven? No, twelve, Brian was seven.   
Each year my parents would take Brian and I out camping for a week, in New Hampshire. Our grandparents usually came, too, and it was always fun. That year, though, it was a big deal because my Granddad told us that he was going to take me and Brian and it would just be the three of us. We were excited. Our Granddad's a great guy.  
We arrived at the campsite and it was totally different. Our Granddad's laid-back and he'd let us just wander around by ourselves. We'd come back to the camp at night and have cookouts on the fire. We'd go swimming in the rivers and strolling down the trails.   
The weather was great until the third day, when it was cloudy and windy. Granddad said he was going to go swimming; he’s the type where as long as it’s at least thirty-three degrees out he’ll go swimming. Brian and I said we were too cold so we went for a walk instead. Today we picked a new trail and were sort of chatting and just walking along when we stopped short.  
In the middle of the path was this weird little thing. It was maybe a foot tall and brown, with these big eyes, and it ran up and grabbed Brian's leg. We laughed, and we didn't know what it was, so we just started calling it the goblin. As we went along the goblin followed us, bouncing and moving its little arms, so we decided to bring it back to camp with us.  
Granddad wasn't back yet so we showed it around; our tents, the car, the fire pit. The whole time it chattered in its goblin language and sprinted around, twitchy and loud. Then I showed it our lantern, flicking it on. The thing stopped still. Its eyes got huge and it stared at the light, not budging. Then I shut it off and it started running around again.  
Eventually our granddad came back from the river and we ran up to him with the goblin. "Granddad, look what we found!"  
Now our Granddad's a very easygoing guy, but when he saw the goblin his face was like stone. His voice got loud and he pointed an arm and told us to get rid of that thing, get it out of the campsite right now. We were scared because we'd never seen him mad before and so we took the goblin a little ways out into the woods and set it down. "Sorry," we said, and left. We went back and my Granddad was still mad. "I told you to get rid of that thing!" We turned around and realized it had followed us, running up and grabbing Brian's leg again. We didn't want Granddad to get any more mad so we grabbed it again, took it deeper into the trees, and set it down. We came back, stopped for just a moment, and in a second the thing was back and holding onto Brian's shin.  
Our granddad was irate and we knew we had to get rid of the thing fast. By this time the sun was setting, the stars edging out over the treeline, and I got an idea. I remembered how the goblin had stopped still and stared at the lantern light when we showed it, so I went and grabbed the lantern and turned it on. The goblin's eyes got huge and its limbs froze. I started walking along, carrying the lantern, and the goblin went along after me, not taking its eyes off the light. Brian went with me and we walked until we were on the path where we'd first seen the thing. It was black out and the trees blocked the moon and we could only see what the little circle of our lantern allowed us to see. The goblin just kept staring at the light and trailing after us, and we went on.  
After a little ways we heard a the leaves of the undergrowth move aside, and out of them came a second goblin. It stared at the light, too, following the first one. And a little ways after that came a third goblin, then a forth. They kept coming out of the woods until there were twelve goblins, all gathered up behind us. Brian held hard onto my hand. We went until I found a big rock that interrupted the path, and I set the lantern on top of it. The twelve goblins all made a circle around the rock and sat without taking their eyes off the lantern. I said to Brian, we have to go now, they won't follow us.  
Brian turned and looked at the black cave of trees and shook his head. He stared at the light, too, not wanting to leave it. Come on, I said, and pulled at his hand. He kept looking behind us at the light even as I was dragging him away. There's nothing to be scared of, I said, we'll be back to camp soon. We went until we couldn't see the lantern anymore. That's when Brian freaked out and was down the path so fast that I didn't even see him run away. Come back, I called, and ran after him, into the forest, until the yellow glow of the lantern came into view once again.  
It was the weirdest thing. I waited to see the twelve goblins and then Brian. Instead, there was the lantern still on the rock, thirteen goblins around it, and no Brian. I looked for him. I called his name. I went back to camp and had to tell my Granddad. We keep going back to the same campsite each year. But he hasn't come back yet.


End file.
